World War II began in 1939 after Germany invaded Poland. Key events leading up to the war included the rise of nationalist dictators like Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, and Stalin in the Soviet Union. These totalitarian leaders exploited economic instability and popular discontent following World War I and the Great Depression to consolidate power. Hitler steadily expanded German territory through the late 1930s, and the failed policy of appeasement by Britain and France emboldened Germany and led to the invasion of Poland and start of World War II.

1. World War II
1939-1945
US Entry- 1941

2. Rise_Of_Nationalism_Germany 1;48

3. Causes of WWII: The
Versailles Treaty Germany
•Blamed for war
•Lost colonies
•New countries
formed out theirs
•Paid (war debts)
reparations
(~33 Billion$)

4. The Great Depression
 World-wide economic
devastation
Buying of CREDIT
TARRIFF WARS of the 20s
Fordney-McCumber Tariff-1923
Hawley-Smoot Tariff-1930

5. Rise of Foreign Dictatorships
 social desperation and unrest
 promise of dictators to change
problems

6. Problems in Europe After
WWI
Great Depression
•Economic = people were jobless
•Political = weak governments could
not solve problems in their
countries………..Fear of Jews and
Communists
•Social = times of unrest people look
for a leader.

7. •Power of government rests in one man.
•TOTAL POWER
•No freedoms in this society…..
•Usually racist and discriminatory towards
certain groups……
•Often have large militaries and must
expand and conquer to gain approval from
their people.

8. Totalitarian dictators
came to power during
the 1920s and 1930s
in Europe.
Adolph Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Joseph Stalin
Totalitarian dictators have total power….There are no freedoms in this
type of society…..Usually racist and discriminatory towards certain
groups……Often have large militaries and must expand and conquer to
gain approval from their people. COMMUNISM, FASCISM AND
NAZISM ARE TOTALITARIAN DICTATORSHIPS!

9. •Joseph Stalin
•1921/Soviet Union
Communism
•Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(U.S.S.R)
• gov’t control of all territories
•massive effort to industrialize
• no opposition tolerated
•Stalin maneuvered himself into becoming the leader
of the Soviet Union.
•The Russian Revolution was led by the people to
overthrow a monarch but when the new ruling class
took over, there were no protections of people’s
rights…… “NO BILL OF RIGHTS”
•Communism and fascism are similar in their
ideologies

10. Rise of Nationalism Russia 1;12

11. Benito Mussolini
1922/Italy---Facism
Believe, Obey and Fight
Revive the Roman Empire
• condemned Democracy,
Socialism, &Communism
• defended capitalism regulated
by gov’t
• slow economic recovery
• blamed world economic
conditions
FACISM: BASED ON A SYMBOL OF AUTHORITY IN THE OLD ROMAN
EMPIRE…………”a philosophy or system of government
that advocates or exercises a dictatorship, state
control of industry, racial superiority, supremacy of
the leader, limits civil rights, together with an
ideology of belligerent nationalism, militarism and
expansion…..”

12. Rise of Nationalism Italy ;57

13. The Rise of Adolph Hitler
Born in Austria
Fought in WWI and was bitter
towards the Treaty of Versailles

14. Adolf Hitler
Germany/1933---Facism
Master Aryan Race
• WWI veteran-Blamed Jews for WWI
loss
• Was arrested for attempting to
overthrow old Nazi Regime in the
“Beer Hall Putsch”
•wrote Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”)
while in prison a book detailing political
ideas for Germany and his future plans
for Germany
• rebuilt Nazi Party/Military
• took control of Germany
•Blamed Jews for WWI loss

15. Rise_Nationalism_Hitler_Nazi 3 min

16. • removed German Jews from jobs
• Nuremberg Laws
• deprived German Jews of German
citizenship
• banned marriages between Jews and non-
Jews
• Kristallnacht – “night of broken glass”
• massive destruction of Jewish property

17. Two Phases of Hatred
• Phase 1 1933-1939
– A Common Enemy : Re-Education
– Citizenship Rights?
–German Jews face deportation
– Violence Escalates----Kristalnacht
• Phase 2 (1939-1945)
– World War II begins vs. France/England
– Holocaust Begins--- The Final Solution
–Ghettos and Forced Labor
Camps
–mass executions of Jews and Eastern
Europeans.
–Gas Chamber

20. Including 1.5 million
innocent children

21. Emperor Horhito and Hideki Tojo
Japan
Militarism
Empire of the Sun
 economy hurt by Depression and
loss of world markets
 military leaders rose to power and
built up military

 formed military agreement with
Germany & Italy that became AXIS
POWERS
Japan’s Manifest Destiny was to
expand into China and the rest of
Asia by invading Manchuria in
northeastern China for resources
Would threaten our island
possessions and U.S. trade policy
into China, Open Door Policy.

22. “FLYING TIGERS”
before the American
entry into World War II-private
contractors of
Military volunteers had
the mission of
defending China
against Japanese forces/
aggression
Seen as heroic and
brave

23. Rise_Nationalism_Japan ;54

24. • Neutrality Act of 1935
• illegal for Americans to sell arms to any
nation at war
• Neutrality Act of 1937
• cont’d ban on arms sale to nations at war
• warring nations only buy nonmilitary supplies on
cash & carry basis

25. American_Isolationism 3 min

26. Hitler/GERMAN
EXPANSION
•1935 to
1939,
unopposed by
the League of
Nations.
•Rhineland
1936
•Austria
1938

27. Sudetenland
•Part of Germany
before WWI.
•Treaty of
Versailles created
Czechoslovakia
•7,450,000 Czechs
•3,200,000
Germans
•2,300,000
Slovaks
•720,000 Magyars
•560,000 Ruthenes
•100,000 Poles

28. •Leaders met in Munich to decide the
fate of Czechoslovakia..
•Hitler believed Sudetenland should be
part of Germany.
•Adolf Hitler--Germany
Neville Chamberlain—England
Premier Edouard Deladier---France
Benito Mussolini--Italy
•Hitler promised the world if he
received the Sudetenland, there would
be no war.

29. •German demands for the Sudetenland are met = “All I want,
is a Germany for Germans”
•All Chamberlain wanted was peace at any cost.
•Chamberlain believed that by sacrificing Czechoslovakia he
had satisfied Hitler and he would stop being aggressive; he
promised “a peace with honor… peace in our time.”
•Chamberlain gave into Hitler (appeasement)
•Hitler got the Sudetenland.

30. •FDR sent a letter to Hitler
asking him to honor the Munich
Conference
•Later in 1939, Hitler would
invade and take the rest of
Czechoslovakia…….
•The United States learned
from the Munich Conference
that you cannot trust the words
of a dictator………

31. Umbrella Road
•What is the
cartoonist
trying to say
here?
•What is meant
by, “we might
as well try to
appease him”?
•How does the
cartoonist
justify his
decision to
appease Hitler?

32. • Hitler demanded Sudetenland
• Hitler then demanded return of Danzig
• He also wanted right to build highway and
railroad across Polish corridor
• With these demands for territory in Poland,
GB & France realize appeasement had failed
• Sept 1, 1939, with Soviet support, Germany
invades Poland
• Sept 3, 1939 GB & France declare war on
Germany –WORLD WAR II BEGINS

33. Nationalism_Rise_Axis_Pwr

34. Clouds of War 3 min